NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball 4-18-21

 

Meet George Jetson!

His boy Elroy!

I think the only reason I get up on Sunday mornings is to see The Jetsons on MeTV.  I probably have other obligations, but this show actually gets me out of bed.  They started showing it a month or so ago and I’ve really enjoyed it.  It’s better than I remembered from whenever the last time I saw it.  I love the big band jazz theme music.  The futuristic show might even be more relevant today.  I really liked this one episode where they showed a football game where the sport was only being played by robots.  It’s a hopeful future with no stupid millionaire athletes shooting off their big mouths.

 

No, this doesn’t have any relevance to today’s baseball game between the Aggies and the GCU Lopes.  I’m just relating the high point of my day.  Almost everything after the cartoon was vaguely disappointing.  Almost . . .   I’ll get to that.  There was nearly no game for me today.  I stuck my head outside right after I got up, and after a shot of hard, cold wind, I said, “Hell, no!”  Yesterday was enough of that.  I went ahead and exercised and showered and tested the weather again.  It wasn’t quite as bad an hour later.  Ron called and I agreed to go. 

 

Ron once again picked up the tickets before getting me.  I’m still pretty sure that it’s not necessary to be there when the ticket window opens.  I bundled up, so I was actually more comfortable than yesterday when it was warmer.  My mask kept fogging up my glasses though.  The rest of the reduced, but capacity, crowd likewise dressed warm.  A lot of the girls and women came in with blankets.  Country music was going on over the PA during the pregame.  The usually perky PA voice sounded either sick or depressed.  I hope she’s feeling better for the next series. 

 

Local player Zerek Saenz was down by the dugout practicing his boxing on apprehensive teammates.  We said, “Hi,” to Adam Young on his way to the pressbox, but there was only TV coverage today, no radio.  On yesterday’s broadcast, Adam was mentioning that Zerek was having a great series hitting.  He was batting .425 at the start of the game.  Drafted star Nick Gonzales was also mentioned several times.  Jason Bush was catching today.  He’d caught Friday’s game and all of yesterday’s double header.  He’s invincible.

Everything seemed to added up today on the scorecard, except that I didn’t like the result.  Cam Blazek started pitching for the Aggies.  His intro song was the classic western hit, Big Iron by Marty Robbins.  The Aggie dugout was full of pep to start the game.  Cam went through the first two batters quickly, but then gave up two doubles which scored a run.  1-0 GCU.

 

Zerek saw his first pitch and promptly hit a single in the bottom.  GCU pitcher Carter Young didn’t have any other trouble in the frame, except the umpire had an argument with his coach over something.  I could almost hear it.  The ump warned about a throw over to first, but it wasn’t a balk.  Carter did finish off the inning with the rare F1, as he called off the other fielders on a popup.

 

The top of the second went quick with a pair of strikeouts.  I was almost thinking both teams wanted off the cold, windy field as quickly as possible.  A foul ball did drop into the stands thankfully missing everybody.  From personal experience, I know that can be scary.  (I have no idea where that post is where I caught a ball in my lap in the stands.  Ron still desperately wishes he’d there to see that.)  The PA still asked for the ball back.

 

The bottom of the second was also unintentionally quick as Cal Villareal was thrown out trying to steal second.  Adam mentioned yesterday that the Aggies kept testing GCU catcher David Avitia’s arm.  That didn’t work then either.  An attractive middle-aged woman with an enormous diamond ring on her finger was seated right below us.  When Ronnie Allen Jr. came up to bat, she got up and video’d it with her phone.  I guess that’s his mom.  She certainly raised a big, healthy specimen of a boy. 

 

The third inning was very quick.  Blazek notched another pair of strikeouts.  The Aggies ended their half on a double play.  Noah Haupt did single.  He still has the best beard in the WAC.  There were a couple of guys behind us that were talking baseball for much of the game.  They might have been scouts, as they were discussing MLB rule changes.  Though this was a TV game, the inning breaks had been quick.  The one before the fourth was the first slightly longer break.  OMG!  It’s Emerson!  For the fan trivia contest, the sports marketing intern of my dreams came down the grandstand and handed out a prize.  I’d assumed she’d moved on since last year, so this was a pleasant surprise.  (This was the other highlight of my day.)

 

The sun finally peaked through starting in the fourth inning.  It had been partly cloudy to overcast.  The fielders hadn’t had much trouble with the wind or the clouds to this point.  A fan brought in a large black dog, so pets are still welcome, but they have to be masked.  On field, this was where the wheels came off for the Aggies.  Blazek got the first out, but then gave up a couple of singles. 

 

Kevin Jimenez then lost a foul popup in the sun at third on the next batter.  This had consequences.  In the prolonged at bat, there was a dribbler between Bush and Blazek. They both banged into each other trying to get it.  Blazek was okay, but surprisingly, the “invincible” Bush was still on the ground.  The trainers ran out immediately for him.  The crowd was hushed for a couple of minutes until they got Bush to his feet and helped him off the field.  This could be bad (and I feel bad for jinxing him).  Britt Graham trotted out to take over catching.

 

It was bad on field too.  The bases were loaded.  Jonny Weaver then hit a double down the third baseline.  The crowd didn’t think it was a fair ball, but it scored two runs.  The second out was recorded on a liner, but a grounder to KJ that ate him up on a bad hop scored two more runs on the error.  Yet another run was singled in before the third out was recorded.  6-0 GCU.

 

Clank!  Another foul went into the stands in the bottom of the fourth.  This one was closer to a fan, but didn’t hit.  Given the configuration of the net, the canopy, and the stands, I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the first time two balls had dropped into the stands.  KJ singled and was moved to second on a walk to Ethan Mann.  He kept dancing around second and seemed to distract Young on the mound.  Finally, Kevin either tried to steal third or was just straight picked off.  The GCU dugout yelled out, “Thank you!”

 

Hayden Johns came on to pitch the top of the fifth.  He was greeted with a home run to left and then a double to left.  Johns then issued two walks before being relieved by Lyle Hibbitts.  The umpire also issued a warning to the GCU dugout and called out their manager.  Again, I could almost hear it, but not quite.  Since the dugout had gotten pretty vocal, I think the ump was warning them about taunting.  Being aware of the game and series situation, he may have wanted to head off any altercation between the teams.  GCU scored two more runs on sacrifices to make it 9-0.  I nearly muffed my scorecard this inning, which would have completed the disaster.

 

The Aggies were now in danger of getting run ruled on their own field.  Cal led off the bottom of the fifth with a hit.  Britt, with the great walkup music (which I still can't identify, sorry), legged out an infield single.  Haupt then singled in the Aggies’ first run.  Jake Baer singled in a run, and Brandon Dieter drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.  At least the Aggies wouldn’t be shutout today.  Kevin Jimenez was pulled for Zach Smits, who made the final out.  The coach was probably unhappy with KJ, even though he is the better hitter.  9-3 GCU.

 

Emerson came by to throw souvenirs to crowd.  She’s gone to a softer, lighter hair color and still doesn’t have a ring on her finger.  Smits took over first and Mann went to third.  They were both immediately tested in the sixth and didn’t have any problems fielding for a quick inning.  Stacy’s Mom played between frames.  The guys behind us thought the song was "Messed up."  I guess they haven’t seen the video to confirm that opinion.  Ronnie’s mom was joined by, I guessing, his grandma, and they both video’d his next at bat.  The Aggies didn’t score here.

 

Do I have to recap the rest of this game?  The highlight of the top of the seventh was a flyover by two military helicopters.  A little late for the Anthem guys. The sun finally came out in the bottom and warmed things up.  The guys behind me were wondering if the run rule was in play.  The Aggies must have heard that and then loaded the bases, but Mann popped out to end the inning.  The wind caused some problems as three fielders converged on the fly and none of them seemed sure to catch it.  I thought I saw Volleyball Coach Jordan across the grandstand.  He was having a long conversation with one of the regular fans. 

 

The Lopes scored two more runs in the eighth.  Two bad throws to first were ruled hits and prolonged the inning.  11-3 GCU.  Mom and grandma danced in their seats to Mambo #5 between frames.  The Aggies went down quietly.  Eric Hernandez worked the top of the ninth for the Aggies.  He made a nice play on a comebacker for a double play, as he worked around two hits and a hit batter.  In the bottom, Nolan Ewens pinch hit with Wild Thing as his walkup.  The dugout gave him a big cheer for getting into the game.  Tristan Stacy bat for Zerek.  The coach was probably protecting Zerek’s batting average.  Tristan struck out, but took first on a wild pitch.  The game ended 11-3.  GCU wins.           

 

It was a solid act of defiance by the Aggies for this game not to have ended early.  As it stands though, they were swept in the four-game series.  There’s not much to applaud today, but Zerek Saenz did go 2 for 4, and Noah Haupt went 3 for 4 with an RBI.  For the Lopes, Tayler Aguilar went 4 for 5 with an RBI and Jonny Weaver went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.  I’m probably not giving their pitching enough credit.  They were all relatively small and slim and didn’t throw hard, but avoided giving up a big inning.

 

I felt better after this game than yesterday’s, but only because I was warmer.  I can’t believe how much time I was outside this weekend and didn’t get any significant sun.  Ron had a couple of foul balls.  I offered to return them to Emerson (and only her), but he didn’t want to give them up.  I looked around the “Kiss and Cry” area, but didn’t see anyone obvious to ask about Jason Bush’s condition.  He’s one of my favorite players.  I didn’t want to make Ron wait around until the players came out. 

 

I called my dad and he was watching the two races that were on that afternoon.  Ron and I picked up a Little Caesars’ pizza and went over to watch the end of them.  The IRL race featured their new “rookie” Jimmie Johnson.  Denny Hamlin dominated his home track at Richmond in NASCAR only to lose it to Alex Bowman on a late race restart.  (I was the only one happy about that.)  The pizza was not that great.  Their Cheeser! Cheeser! pizzas are great, but they’re not always on the menu.  I was glad I got to see dad this weekend, since he didn’t want to go to any of the games.  Ron was happy to see the races and thought he might come back next weekend for Talladega.  That’s a wrap for this weekend.